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nevermind
Famous Hero
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posted February 15, 2007 11:42 AM |
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Legal Question
Was thinking and got to an interesting question maybe someone knows the law well enough to answer , I'm sure every knows tapani's free RMG - he gives it away free but was wondering if he can for example charge money for it ? After all he only makes a file heroes 5 uses and the program is his logic and code do ubi owns the rights for that too?
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the_teacher
Supreme Hero
Talk to the hand!
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posted February 15, 2007 12:31 PM |
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he gave it away for free, so its pretty late for copyright, unless he releases a new version,else all can pretend they got it while it was free.
not even custom made maps are not belonging to ubi, especially some codding things. take for example windows media players who is using divx codecs. or sql using excel.completelly differnt owners. even plug-ins for lot of graphic programms, they are selling separatelly
why nvd? u want to buy the right to sell it? clever move  next step is heroes franchise, im in for designing
have a nice day
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nevermind
Famous Hero
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posted February 15, 2007 12:53 PM |
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Quote:
he gave it away for free, so its pretty late for copyright, unless he releases a new version,else all can pretend they got it while it was free.
not even custom made maps are not belonging to ubi, especially some codding things. take for example windows media players who is using divx codecs. or sql using excel.completelly differnt owners. even plug-ins for lot of graphic programms, they are selling separatelly
why nvd? u want to buy the right to sell it? clever move next step is heroes franchise, im in for designing
have a nice day
No i don't wanna buy anything you got my angel wrong I'll reveal it later but i'm still not convinced , First of all there's ubi's RMG maybe making a rmg for that game is registered as a patent or something like that? , Another thing you should consider is i know that tapani used an algorithm from h3 or something like doesn't that make it unsellable?
And here maybe another question , can i make a HOMM5 map using the map editor and sell it? , if not then whats the diffrence here?
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morgan_le_fey
Famous Hero
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posted February 16, 2007 07:58 AM |
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well i never heard of it but if i understand you right it sounds like he took some code from ubi..rewrote it to create some unique code and then gave it away. If thats the case he went into an unauthorized partnership with UBI. If thats true he hasnt even got the right to give it away..
morgan le fey
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Tapani
Adventuring Hero
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posted February 16, 2007 05:29 PM |
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First, I am not a legal expert, however I have some basic understanding of intellectual property (IP) law. As far as I understand it, there would be nothing that would prevent me from attempting to charge money for it.
Almost all laws for IP protection are based around the following:
- copyright
- patents
- trademarks
My RMG does not violate any copyrights (I made the software, I own the copyright to it). As far as I know it does not violate any patents (also, pure software patents are not valid in Europe where I live). Also I have not misrepresented any trademarks. Regarding trademarks, I refer to a potentially trademarked name (heroes V) as a description of its usage (in the same way almost all software refer to say Windows XP in their descriptions). I believe this type of usage of trademarks is fair use.
Now, to clear up some misconeptions I saw in this thread. The RMG is under copyright, and as such it means nobody is allowed to use it without a permission (a "license"). However, there is a dialog in the beginning granting a license to anyone who wants copy and use it for their own pleasure, that is for generating maps and distributing it freely to their friends. On the other hand, the dialog in the beginning specifically prohibit anyone from exploiting the RMG commercially. (I have seen software I have made for other games being sold on ebay by unscrupulous sellers, that's why).
nevermind, why did you ask? :-)
//Tapani
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nevermind
Famous Hero
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posted February 17, 2007 06:29 PM |
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Quote:
First, I am not a legal expert, however I have some basic understanding of intellectual property (IP) law. As far as I understand it, there would be nothing that would prevent me from attempting to charge money for it.
Almost all laws for IP protection are based around the following:
- copyright
- patents
- trademarks
My RMG does not violate any copyrights (I made the software, I own the copyright to it). As far as I know it does not violate any patents (also, pure software patents are not valid in Europe where I live). Also I have not misrepresented any trademarks. Regarding trademarks, I refer to a potentially trademarked name (heroes V) as a description of its usage (in the same way almost all software refer to say Windows XP in their descriptions). I believe this type of usage of trademarks is fair use.
Now, to clear up some misconeptions I saw in this thread. The RMG is under copyright, and as such it means nobody is allowed to use it without a permission (a "license"). However, there is a dialog in the beginning granting a license to anyone who wants copy and use it for their own pleasure, that is for generating maps and distributing it freely to their friends. On the other hand, the dialog in the beginning specifically prohibit anyone from exploiting the RMG commercially. (I have seen software I have made for other games being sold on ebay by unscrupulous sellers, that's why).
nevermind, why did you ask? :-)
//Tapani
OK thank you i hope your right and i wanna quote something for the legal in readme.txt file what you think about it ?
Quote:
Copyright Information
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This software product and the manual are copyrighted and all rights are reserved by Ubisoft and Nival Interactive and are protected by the copyright laws
that pertain to computer software. You may copy this software for back-up and casual distribution.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, you may not modify, adapt, translate, create derivative works, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise reverse engineer or
derive source code from all or any portion of the software or anything incorporated therein, permit, or encourage any third party to do so.
Heroes of Might and Magic is a registered trademark of Ubisoft. Pentium, Microsoft Windows, Athlon, GeForce, Radeon, SoundBlaster, DirectX are trademarks
of their respective owners.
I want you to notice the line : "create derivative works" , i'm not sure that don't mean something like rmg ??
Anyway the reason i was asking and here i wanna thank you , your rmg gave me a great idea for a project for my first degree in computer engineer , make a rmg of myself The reason i wanted to know that is not cuz i want money on the contrary , charging money for a software is against what i believe in - everyone should share things for free..
But i'm pretty sure that part of the requirements that my university will authorize my request for that project it should have a business potential and i'm afraid if its illigal they will not let me do it
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Tapani
Adventuring Hero
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posted February 17, 2007 11:23 PM |
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Quote:
OK thank you i hope your right and i wanna quote something for the legal in readme.txt file what you think about it ?
Quote:
Copyright Information
---------------------
This software product and the manual are copyrighted and all rights are reserved by Ubisoft and Nival Interactive and are protected by the copyright laws
that pertain to computer software. You may copy this software for back-up and casual distribution.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, you may not modify, adapt, translate, create derivative works, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise reverse engineer or
derive source code from all or any portion of the software or anything incorporated therein, permit, or encourage any third party to do so.
Heroes of Might and Magic is a registered trademark of Ubisoft. Pentium, Microsoft Windows, Athlon, GeForce, Radeon, SoundBlaster, DirectX are trademarks
of their respective owners.
I want you to notice the line : "create derivative works" , i'm not sure that don't mean something like rmg ??
Anyway the reason i was asking and here i wanna thank you , your rmg gave me a great idea for a project for my first degree in computer engineer , make a rmg of myself The reason i wanted to know that is not cuz i want money on the contrary , charging money for a software is against what i believe in - everyone should share things for free..
But i'm pretty sure that part of the requirements that my university will authorize my request for that project it should have a business potential and i'm afraid if its illigal they will not let me do it
Generally, the legal status of end-user license agreements is unclear. The problem is that you see the agreement after purchase, and if you don't agree, you lost your money. In some countries these agreements are invalid, some countries they are valid, but in most they have not been tried enough in court.
Essentially the concept of derived works (US) and adaptations (~EU) deal with works that include the original somehow. Like Wake of Gods for HoMM III. Kinda silly that EULAs prohibit mods, while moddability is used as a selling point.
Also even IF the EULA holds, which is far from clear, violating it is not a criminal offence. It is only a break of contract, and it is up to Ubi to seek damages for the losses they may have suffered thereof (probably none, and if they have, they must show how much and that limits the damages they can seek). This is, in my opinion, the best way to analyze IP issues. Has anyone an economic incentive to sue, then they might. If there is no money to be made (or losses to avoid), they won't.
Hope this helps, and good luck with your project. :-)
Just a piece of programming advice (which I am qualified giving, contrary to the legal advice :-), think through the whole thing before you start. Have an idea of how you for instance will place objects on the map, without accidentally preventing access to some other objects.
//Tapani
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midnight
Promising
Famous Hero
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posted February 18, 2007 03:01 AM |
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Tapani can argue he didnt "create derivative works" since his RMG was out before the official one. It is an original product that used a common file format to H5. How does that sound Would need a proper legal opinion tho, any IP lawyers out there?
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morgan_le_fey
Famous Hero
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posted February 19, 2007 09:50 AM |
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Ok yeah your right...patent laws in europe are certainly different than in the US. Then theres the question of which court had jurisdiction if someone got sued. But yeah..it sounds like everyone here has more knowledge than me.
well good luck to you all
le fey
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